Customising Ableton Live 10

Live 10 introduces several substantial new tools – see the main walkthroughs – but beyond these, it also brings a mass of small tweaks, many of which aren’t instantly obvious. Among these are several adjustments to the DAW’s browser, workflow and general setup that allow for new ways to customise the experience, and it’s worth getting to grips with these before diving into the rest of the Live 10 experience.

The most substantial is the new Browser Collections system, which uses colour-coded tags to allow users to create lists of their favourite sounds, tools and presets. This is fairly straightforward. Simply right/ ctrl-click anything in the browser and assign one of the seven colour tags to it. Coloured lists appear in the top right of the browser under the Collections window. Hitting edit here lets you add or remove colours as required. Each colour can be renamed however you like; remember, these tags don’t discriminate between samples, instruments, presets, or factory/ third-party/user content, so you can get pretty freeform with it. Why not try organising lists by genre or mood? You could also use your collections as a dumping ground for ideas you like but aren’t sure how to use in a current project. Programmed a percussion line that doesn’t quite fit into your track? Slap a colour tag on it and save it for later; before long you’ll have a ready-made stock of unused ideas to play around with.

Other useful customisation options include the ability to name your interface’s I/O channels. Do this by heading to Preferences > Audio, and then open the Input or Output configuration windows below the interface selection drop down. This is great if you have multiple ins and outs that remain routed to certain instruments or outboard effects. Note that names correspond to the interface itself, not Live’s inputs/ outputs, so you can set up different named configurations for multiple interfaces if, say, you use one main interface in the studio and one on the road.

Live’s metronome can now be customised too. It was always possible to swap the click sound using a workaround hack, but you now get a trio of sound options right within the transport bar. Plus, you can now select from multiple time signatures for the metronome, although Live will only let you select from timing divisions that fit the current project (ie, you can’t assign a 5/4 click track to a 4/4 project).

Why not try organising lists by genre or mood?